Copy of story from Minot Daily News (link)

Rocky rally kills Beavers' buzz

By MICHAEL LINNELL, Sports Editor mlinnell@minotdailynews.com

MILES CITY, Mont. — Over the final five minutes, Minot State University's football team took a roller coaster ride it would rather soon forget.

The Beavers marched and took the lead with 2:02 remaining in the fourth quarter only to lose it a minute later. The final score by Rocky Mountain College sealed a 27-23 nonconference win for the Battlin' Bears Friday at Denton Field.

The Bears equaled their win total from each of the last two seasons by virtue of a Clint Franklin 1-yard touchdown with 1:02 remaining, but it was two big passes by RMC's quarterback Vance Vincent that put them in position. The first came on a 4th-and-10 from the Bears' 34. Vincent found Daniel Ghormley on a short pass to the left side. Ghormley, however, broke an initial tackle and rambled 44 yards. Two plays later, Vincent found Jason Hagadone on a deep out for 23 yards to the one. Franklin scored a play later.

Last year we don't make that play,” Vincent, a sophomore, said. “We have a lot of corrections to make, but we are going to savor this one for a while.”

The Beavers had one more chance to win the game, but Spencer Cooley intercepted Beavers' quarterback Ryan Jutras at the Rocky 33.

“We needed to find one more stop,” MSU head coach Mike Sivertson said. “The game is kind of a blur right now. We are going to have to regroup.”

The Beavers had taken the lead with 2:02 on a Neil Graham 2-yard run after an 11 play, 80 yard drive. During the drive, Jutras, who was battling Jon Meier for the starting job, but took every snap during the game, had four big passes to keep it alive. Jutras found Josh Kringen twice for big gains, Kevin Hanson and Ronnie Patrick as the Beavers covered the 80 yards in just over three minutes.

“We knew that MSU was a good team and that if we took something away, they would respond,” RMC head coach Dave Reeves said. “It was kinda nice to see them have to pass, but we didn't change much on defense. You kinda game plan (to stop the pass) at the end of games.”

The Beavers were forced to pass because of problems establishing the run. MSU was held to just 63 yards.

They were doing some zone blitzing up front and we didn't respond,” Sivertson said. “That is the crappy thing when you can't scout another team, but we have some seniors and it ain't the first time we have seen it before.”

According to RMC defensive back Roger Larson — who was in on numerous tackles — the Bears were geared to taking away the run.

We knew about their three guys in the backfield,” he said. “The front guys did all the work. We didn't do much different than we normally would do, but the d-line and the linebackers did a great job.”

MSU's defense was just about as stingy as they held RMC to just 52 yards rushing, and 35 of that came on Franklin's first touchdown run. But Vincent was solid. He finished with 228 yards on 21-34 passing, including 6-of-7 for 53 yards in the third quarter.

We were playing to win and not to not lose,” he said. “There is a big difference. That is what this year's team does differently.”

His counterpart Jutras was just as solid. Jutras hit his first pass of the night, although it was called back for a penalty and threw his first touchdown of the year early in the first quarter. Jutras found Hansen on an 84-yard strike with 9:14 to play in the first. He finished with 290 yards on 17-of-30 passing and the one interception.

Its a learning experience,” Sivertson said of Jutras' play. “It just took us too long to get into the game.”

The Beavers were hampered by three huge miscues on specials teams. Twice the Beavers snapped the ball over the head of punter Nik Levnaich and Levnaich missed an extra point.

We have the two bad snaps and the mixed extra point and we can't have that,” Sivertson said.”

The Bears took advantage of the first bad snap as Franklin scored on the first play after Levnaich's short punt due to the miscue. The second time, Blaine King bailed out the special teams with a blocked field goal.

MSU's defense scored a touchdown when Marcus Prince scooped up a fumble caused by Martel Pope and raced 48-yards for the score just three minutes into the second half.

Rocky, however, scored the nest two touchdowns to take a 21-14 lead.

This wouldn't have happened last year,” Reeves said of the comeback. “This team is totally different than last years.”

Notes: MSU linebacker Shaun Sideras left the game in the second half with an apparent leg injury. His status was not immediately known. ... Freshman kicker Levnaich was forced into duty when Marco Babic returned home be with his family after his mother took ill. Levnaich was solid in the punting game, hit a 20-yard field goal and was not responsible for the two short punts on the bad snaps. ... Blaine King had a sack and a handful of quarterback hurries in his first game back after missing a year with an injury. ... Denton field doubles as the baseball field, but the infield grass doesn't interfere with football field. Overall, the grounds and the hospitality at Miles City were great. The Beavers and Bears will play in Miles City for two more seasons.